I'm looking for some good coilovers. Most LS460 guys go with bags, so I need any input and past experiences with different brands.

I know stateside we have BC, Megan and Starke. In Japan there are a ton of different ones that I've been looking through, but I'm sure not all are created equal just like ours.

T-Demand
Final Konnexion
iDeal
etc.

I'm looking at pricing (of course), but also ride, quality, how long they'll last and how low they'll go as well. Any kind of experience with these would help. I'm looking through this site to see the different ones offered.

http://autostyle-usa.com/lexus_ls/sus/

 

contact elvis at stancenation he is the coilver guy you want to talk to. I thouhgt you were bagging your LS????

 

Take a look at jic magic. I just installed jic on my Ls460L and I love it. Ride quality is very good, sporty but smooth. Jic can go real low. My rears, the fender we'll is almost on top wheels, I have 22x11 in rears. Jic are a bit pricey but to me they are well worth it

 

other than JIC magic i have not heard someone swear that you get more for the $$ when it comes to coilovers. i've had BC's now on three different cars for about 6 years and have no complaints. i live in japan and had to bust my *** to find a set of BC's for my japanese toyota crown but i'm glad i did.

for the money (bc's are cheap) i am satisfied.

all of the vip companies nowadays seem to be selling their own coilovers. other than the day you open the box and see how pretty they are, you will likely never see them look pretty again. i don't think paying extra $$ for aimgain or k-break or whatever is worth the $$, or ĄĄ if you will

 

I thought about it and it seems like cups and coils would work better for my needs. Where do I find this fellow? I've seen his LS400 and it looks good.

 

Which JIC's? No T-Demand?

 

I'm mostly interested in the companies that make suspension parts. T-Demand is at the top, although, I can't find a price. I have Nagisa arms, but haven't seen coilovers from them. I'm not familiar with most besides JIC, Tien, etc which are the normal Japanese suspension companies I've seen.

As for the BC, Starke and Megan, I'm just worried about quality since I drive a lot and my car is HEAVY! Do you ride low on a daily basis? I know you're on cups also, I saw your thread a long time ago on VSC. Any qwerks you can remember?

 

same setup still for me at this moment. nothing bad yet. i ride at complete low on the rear and like .6" from bottom on the fronts. i had custom spring rates and sizes put on this set of BC's though.

i rode with my previous LS430UL on BC coilovers like an inch from complete bottom and i put something like 60k miles on the coilovers in 2 years (had factory air ride and the datasystems controller for 1 year before blowing a strut) before selling the car, but had no issues with the BC's ever.

by phantom air cup kit is presently the same as the LS430 and it may be for sale if anyone is interested. the BC's i believe are the exact same as the 3gs and the phamtom kit is the same as for the LS430/3gs.

**i haven't put a heap of miles on my current grs182 crown but the roads out here will beat up your suspension in a hurry that is for sure. i already had to replace the coilovers on my bmw since i tear through this back road little mountain pass shortcut to and from work about 3 days a week. i dare not take the crown through there though

 

I have a set of iDeal's for sale....brand new and first that I know of in the country. Hit me up if you're interested...

mryuen@usa.net

 

T-Demand Pro Damper is 172,800 Yen ~ $1,685. I think in comparison to all the companies you've aformentioned, iDeal, T-Demand, Final Connexion, Largus, etc can all be had for just around +/-$2,200 shipped to your door. If you're having a hard time sourcing prices, PM me.

 

How is the ride quality on iDeals coilovers? And how low can they go?

 

what Yen rate are you using exactly (the yen rate hasn't been that high in yearsżżż),, i think you should update your conversion a little. well it seems it went up a little over night to 101 but yesterday it was 100. this is if you are extremely lucky and walk into a place in japan with cash in hand. a bank will likely still give you 99 today.

and is this $1685 that should be more like $1,728 shipped to your door (does this price include shipping)? shipping coilovers from japan to US is sersiously gonna run you at least $200, maybe even closer to $300. so if you add say $250 to $1728, you get $1978 which is pretty close to your quote of $2200 shipped to your door for the other brands.

*** plus japan's tax just increased to 8% this past April***

if mr. mark is selling them already local (ish) and interested i would jump on that.


yen rate at the local place i go to:
http://ameblo.jp/luckyexchangeltd

 

Thanks for explaining this.....many consumers don't realize there are other fees associated with purchasing from Japan outside of just converting the yen.

Anyone interested in my iDeal's, I'm letting them go for $1,400 shipped to the lower 48.....

 

Based on your response I'm not even sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me. Nevertheless, the currency exchange I used was from bloomberg and an estimate; hence my use of the "~" and the "+/-". As for the other factors related to purchasing parts in Japan, I am well aware of the tax/shipping/currency exchange, I am well aware of the domestic shipping costs within Japan, the tax rates, as well as the costs of buying/selling currency. The back of the napkin calculation I provided in my response was taking into consideration air freight so before you start jumping to conclusions, at least make sure your response is apples to apples. Besides, the dollar amounts I used were just estimates, again, just estimates.

 

Mr.Brian,

based on your response to my response i'm not sure if you are agreeing with yourself or meż

and i definitely don't want to be comparing something that is not an apple to an apple, thanks for pointing that out